Questions tagged [colloquial-language]
for questions about colloquial language. Colloquial language, colloquial dialect, or informal language is a variety of language commonly employed in conversation or other communication in informal situations.
269 questions
0
votes
2
answers
222
views
How recognizable is "dailying a smartphone"? And is it a portmanteau?
I didn't know that daily could be a verb (US, automotive, colloquial), as in "to drive an automobile frequently, on a daily basis, for regular and mundane tasks" (Wiktionary). I note MW ...
- 448
1
vote
3
answers
194
views
Children's English: "If you be..." [closed]
Is it normal for a 3-4 year old child to use be in this way:
If you be angry again, you won't get no presents from Santa.You need to say it's ok when I be bad...
01:11 https://www.facebook.com/watch?...
- 435
1
vote
1
answer
76
views
Is "in many a moon" idiomatic?
I just encountered a phrase, "in many a moon", while watching Peppa Pig:
Visitors? I haven't had visitors in many a moon.
I can guess the meaning using the context (just like "once in ...
- 3,799
0
votes
0
answers
34
views
Using "some" in place of "sometimes"?
On TV, the presenter is asking a former couple a lot of quick questions to understand the current situation. Here is a small part of it:
Presenter to both guests: Are you two living together again?
...
- 9,206
0
votes
1
answer
191
views
"back to back" OR "back to back to back"?
A guest on TV is telling about his visit to Disneyland.
Presenter: how many times did you go around on the rides?
Guest: we did the um Big Thunder Mountain 11 times.
Presenter: back to back to back?
...
- 9,206
1
vote
1
answer
91
views
meaning of "eyebrow home"
What does "eyebrow home" mean in this context football (soccer)?
GOAL! Fulham 1-2 Aston Villa (Watkins 59)
Youri Tielemans whips in a
corner, Ollie Watkins eyebrows home, and Andreas ...
- 151
0
votes
1
answer
117
views
Which sentence is the most correct? [closed]
He looks like the hottest thing ever.
He looks the hottest thing ever.
Which one is the most correct?
- 382
0
votes
2
answers
164
views
Ok to use simple present tense after now? | "Now, we look at one more."
A British speaker, who teaches English on youtube, is telling about some usages for socializing. He gives examples, tells about differences, etc. Before he moves on to another one, he says:
"Now, ...
- 9,206
1
vote
2
answers
92
views
What's the meaning of "right off" here?
“What did you say? Listen, I don’t have to take that. You’re liable to get backhanded right off that stool someday.”
“See if I care one bit. That's all I need. Go ahead if it'll make you happy. Knock ...
- 175
4
votes
1
answer
526
views
Is "conversational" used correctly in this context?
I wonder if the 'conversational' used in this context is correct or not:
If you get an interview, study the job description like you're studying for a final exam. If there's anything in the job ...
- 3,799
1
vote
2
answers
81
views
Is there colloquial way to express "X will be aired on TV"?
How can I express "X will be on TV" in daily conversation?
For example, I want to express a movie/football match etc. will be aired on TV starting from 21:00. Are there more colloquial ...
- 568
2
votes
3
answers
142
views
When you are using your laptop for your personal things, and someone ask you what are you doing how do you reply?
If I say I'm working on my laptop, most people think I'm working from home. While I'm doing stuff like checking emails and paying bills or preparing some documents that are not work related. How do ...
- 2,267
2
votes
2
answers
776
views
Why is the question tag for this sentence in Cambridge Dictionary shown like this? --- He gave up his job, did he?
The following sentences are from Cambridge Dictionary along with the explanation:
In questions in informal conversation, we can leave out a subject pronoun, or a subject pronoun and an accompanying ...
- 9,206
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Are "All right, so ....." and "So, yeah, ....." interchangeable when we start to talk about a subject?
"So yeah,...."
"All right, so..."
I sometimes hear these two expressions being used when people start talking about something to other people. For example, I hear that some ...
- 9,206
2
votes
2
answers
164
views
Verb followed by 3 prepositions: ".......looking out across through their eyes ...... | Is this a slip of tongue or something else?
Most people, when they think about themselves, have this experience or this very powerful phenomena that they exist inside their heads, sort of looking out across through their eyes, controlling their ...
- 9,206
-1
votes
1
answer
382
views
What does "up" mean in "Up the Terriers"?
I notice the sports writer say “Up the Terriers” for a British football team. What does "up" exactly mean?
Hull City 0-0 Huddersfield Town
Town get things going. Up the Terriers.
Twitter
- 423
3
votes
2
answers
202
views
Is it my ears or is it the narrator pronouncing"...JAGGED CLIFFS" something like ".... JAG IL TIFFS."?
Cornered, the seals keep close to the jagged cliffs. BBC (see:1:19-1:23)
I listened to it more than 10 times and suprised to hear the "...jagged cliffs" was pronounced something like ".....
- 9,206
0
votes
1
answer
489
views
" How much before?" VS "How earlier" VS "How much earlier?"
I imagined myself talking to a doctor in English, so I made up this conversation.
A: You should take this medicine before the meals.
B: ................? (Here, I need a question that would require ...
- 9,206
2
votes
3
answers
198
views
"Do you want there to be?" VS "Do you want there was?"
On TV, a physicist is talking about space, planets, etc. He tells about anything related to space in a very loving way. So, when it comes to whether there will be a civilization in space, the ...
- 9,206
-1
votes
1
answer
107
views
How do you say you felt the same when someone said they were delighted: Do you say " "So, did I" OR "So was I."?
This is from a tv show Golden Ladies (see:13:21-13:25) The ladies are talking about their new neighbours(the McDowells) who were there and have just left.
Blanch: Well, I think the McDowells were ...
- 9,206
1
vote
1
answer
665
views
The idiomatic antonyms of "keep someone in the loop"?
In this thread I realized that 'loop someone in' does not fit in the scenario of inviting someone into a WhatsApp group for an intermittent discussion, and the idiomatic expression should be 'keep ...
- 3,799
0
votes
1
answer
703
views
Is it all right to say "one one hundred" when you actually mean to say "one percent"?
This is from BBC about space and planets Space questions (see:27:05-27:40)
The presenter says;
"Its atmosphere is one one hundred the pressure of Earth." which doesn't make sense.
However, ...
- 9,206
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Asking about future life or job
To ask a child or a teen about their future job, should one ask: "What would you like to be later?" or "What would you like to do later?"
- 960
2
votes
2
answers
253
views
"We have been down this street already." OR ""We have been to this street already."
This is from a British film Anybod's nightmare see:46:33-46:35
Two people in a car are looking for a place by looking at a map while driving. They can't agree on whether they are on the right street, ...
- 9,206
0
votes
1
answer
435
views
How to express "stupid/fool/dumb brother" in a friendly way? [closed]
I vaguely remember in the past I heard a father said with a smile, "My stupid boy/son, it is a cat, not a dog." In this context, the father was not scolding his son. It's spoken in a ...
- 692
0
votes
1
answer
72
views
Is this grammatically incorrect to say "honestly, I feel like a child myself sometimes"?
Is it grammatically incorrect to say:
honestly, I feel like a child myself sometimes
Is the rule "never use myself with feel" relevant here?
- 29
2
votes
1
answer
89
views
"That's graduation sorted". What type of grammar is used here?
That's graduation sorted.
Context: Speakers talk about the way they want to organise their graduation ceremony and finally find the perfect solution for that.
Even though I get the gist, I don't ...
- 29
12
votes
6
answers
14k
views
What does "you better" mean in this context of conversation?
The following is a excerpt from an interview script on Linux Journal:
Guid: ... If you talk to people, they all think Windows stinks and UNIX is the one true operating system.
Phil: I think that too!
...
- 1,048
3
votes
3
answers
299
views
How do I Americanize "Fat lot of good X will do you"?
I learned British English, but I work exclusively with Americans. I'll often say "Fat lot of good X did for us", and I get confused looks from others. For example, the other day, I said &...
- 337
0
votes
2
answers
604
views
Can we "go to a movie"? Is it grammatical?
Please tell me, can I say "I go to a movie (I mean a film)"? Because we go to a place not to a film. I saw this sentence in "Tactics for listening":
I went to a really dumb movie.
...
- 51
2
votes
4
answers
4k
views
If someone says "That hair tho", does it have a positive or a negative meaning?
I've seen this many times on social media and I can't decide whether it has good or bad meaning.
Here is an example from twitter of a picture of a person with the statement saying
BREAKING: CANTOR ...
- 31
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
Meaning of “on the low side”
I was talking to a recruiter and she said that “ your maths skill is a bit on the low side”. Did she mean that my maths is very low in the score distribution of all candidates (i’m thinking about the ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
622
views
Is it correct to answer the question “who is there?” by “I”?
Somebody on quora stated that “I.” is a possible answer to the question “Who is there?”, making “I.” the shortest English sentence whatsoever.
I'm not a native speaker but wouldn't the natural answer ...
- 101
1
vote
1
answer
76
views
They Was Gonna - Colloquial Language
I heard some people saying "They was..." instead of "They were...".
Also, it seems that this is usually used with gonna (e.g. They was gonna use it).
Is this a common colloquial ...
- 57
0
votes
1
answer
80
views
which of "the pizza wasn't quite up there with the rest" or "the pizza left something to be desired" more natural to say? [closed]
The chicken and pasta were delicious. They were excellent.
However, the ______________.
(a) the pizza wasn't quite up there with the rest
(b) the pizza wasn't quite on par with the rest
(c) the pizza ...
- 13
0
votes
1
answer
481
views
'Unhide' Is Commonly Used, Why Doesn't It Appear on Any Vocabulary?
I noticed that the word 'unhide' it's widely used, though a quick research on multiple vocabularies didn't bring anything relevant up.
This word is extremely common in IT when talking about files, for ...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is it natural to say "exchange contacts"?
Example:
She wanted to exchange contacts with him. (e.g. email, instant
messaging, phone number.)
Is it natural to use this phrase? As a short way of saying: "exchange contact information?"...
- 7,287
0
votes
1
answer
47
views
Stepped into the kitchenette [closed]
Can you use into (rather than to) when talking about a kitchenette—even though a kitchenette isn't a place that you enter?
Note: Google Ngrams says that "stepped into the kitchenette" is way ...
- 7,287
0
votes
1
answer
462
views
Stepped out onto the balcony
"Stepped out onto the balcony" is more common than "stepped out to/into the balcony."
Why is "onto" used even though, usually, the floor of a balcony isn't higher than ...
- 7,287
0
votes
1
answer
46
views
Why is "that" more suitable in the following?
"If I lie to you, I'll lose your trust forever. That's/it's the last thing I want."
"I'll search for Mary. That/it was my original plan anyway."
I know "that" is more ...
- 7,287
1
vote
2
answers
109
views
isn't going anywhere vs. [pronoun]'s not going anywhere
he's not going anywhere has 49,600 results.
he isn't going anywhere has 5,650 results.
(I performed a similar search in a private library, and the difference was more or less the same.)
Is the second ...
- 7,287
0
votes
2
answers
203
views
"Drinking coffee," "haven't had coffee," etc
"Drinking coffee" is more common than "having coffee" on Google Books.
"Haven't had coffee" is way more common than "haven't drunk coffee."
"He'd had food&...
- 7,287
0
votes
0
answers
39
views
Live in a state/situation/circumstance
Do you think we can say someone is living in a situation/state/circumstance? If things are going bad in our life and we have bad life circumstances etc, can we say any of these sentences?
I live in a ...
- 1,408
2
votes
1
answer
76
views
IWhat is the meaning of the beat in this paragraph?
I have been reading an essay about Joan Didion from New Yorker (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/joan-didion-and-the-voice-of-america)
I would like to ask multiple questions in this essay. ...
- 23
1
vote
1
answer
56
views
"to do good with change""
She doesn’t do good with change, so we try to keep the routine in the house to avoid boosting her anxiety.
It seems that “do good” is a synonym for “adapt/bear/accept” and the like. Can anyone ...
- 319
0
votes
2
answers
224
views
cheer up / buck up / perk up /. Which makes more sense in the given context?
Not only did I not get tired, I rather cheered up/perked up/bucked up.
Not only did I not tire, rather I was/felt invigorated.
Do any of these seem natural to you?
- 739
-1
votes
1
answer
69
views
TA (Abbreviation, AmE) [closed]
Context: in a book, two college girls are talking about their lives in a quite colloquial, friendly tone. One of them says: "I made out with my girl TA last week". Does anyone know what &...
- 11
1
vote
3
answers
498
views
Overtake, cut off usage
I have two questions:
Relating to the usage of the word 'overtake'. Is this word common in colloquial English? If I say 'I overtook the truck in front of me', does this sound unnatural or very formal ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
33
views
Why is "struggled to process" more common than "struggled processing"?
In many cases, you'd write verb + gerund:
His eyes stopped to sting/stinging after a while.
Google Ngrams
What is it an exception with the verbs struggle and process?
He struggled to process/...
- 7,287
0
votes
2
answers
63
views
Is the following "what's" contraction similar to these other cases?
What's he doing?
Is this "what's" contraction the same as:
What's his last name?
What's the last time he showered?
Why or why not?
I ask because the first sentence sounds a little ...
- 7,287